Lancaster Insurance MG Owners Championship
Dear Competitor, I’d like to thank those drivers and their guests who attended the Awards Dinner, the final numbers were a bit down on previous years but it went well and everyone enjoyed the evening. Click here to enlarge.The above photo is of the drivers at the 1998 Awards Dinner, there are plenty of familiar, and several rather less familiar, faces. In the spirit of Christmas I’ll donate a bottle of wine to the first person who can name all 21 drivers (exclude the bloke standing behind table 2) in the photo.
Lancaster Insurance I’m delighted to confirm that Lancaster Insurance will be continuing as our main Championship sponsor for the 2015 season. Some additional financial support will again be provided by Yokohama.
2015 Race Dates The provisional race dates for the 2015 season are:
2015 Regs These are with BARC and they expect them to be approved by MSA in early January. As soon as they’re approved I’ll sent copies out to all registered drivers in order that you can send in 2015 Championship registration forms. We already have several new drivers and a few returning former Champions joining us for 2015 and it looks like being a very busy and well supported season.
Crash Helmets A word of caution. Crash helmets approved to Snell 2000 are now out of date and are not acceptable for the 2015 season (refer to Q10.3.1 of the 2015 Blue Book) if, like me, you have a Snell 2000 helmet you will have to buy a new one for the coming season. Make sure that any new helmet has fixing posts to accommodate a Frontal Head Restraint device (see below). Whilst on the subject, check that your seat harness is still “in-date” for the 2015 season. If you have to buy new safety equipment, do make sure that you don’t get sold old stock!!.
Frontal Head Restraints FHR’s (otherwise known as HANS devices) are recommended for the 2015 season and will be mandatory for all UK motorsport from 1st January 2016. Do bear this in mind when buying new seat harnesses or crash helmets.
Test Day We are again invited to join the Classic Sports Car Club on their pre-season Test Day to be held at Snetterton on February 26th. I’ll email out more details and a booking form in the New Year.
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18th November 2014 Dear Competitor, A quick update on a few things:
**** NEWSLETTER **** 9th October 2014 Dear Competitor, The final meeting of the season at Snetterton last weekend wasn’t without some controversy, more of that later but firstly we have to congratulate the winners after what has been a very close and hard fought season. Class F and 2014 overall champion - Mark Baker I’m sure you’ll all join me in congratulating Mark for winning the Championship after 9 years of trying. So much happened over the two days, I hardly know where to start. The Saturday race was held in torrential rain and never has the old motor-racing adage “to finish first, first you must finish” been more appropriate. Staying on the track and not spinning was the key to winning and Ben Palmer drove a superb race to win by nearly 10 seconds from Gary with Andy also driving well to take 3rd place. In Class F, Simon spun off on the opening lap and rejoined in almost last place and with the win looking unlikely pushed hard to try and take the point for fastest lap but didn’t manage it before spinning into retirement leaving Mark to take the win and really open up Class F. The weather changed for the better on Sunday and the race went ahead on a dry track. Everything was settling down nicely until Ian Evans had a coming together with Another ZR that resulted in him dropping a sump full of oil from the hairpin to halfway along the Revett Straight. With cars spinning off everywhere the Clerk of the Course made a correct decision to red flag the race to allow the oil to be cleared up. We all re-assembled on the grid fully expecting to wait while the oil was cleared then have a shortened sprint race to the finish. This didn’t happen and the race was declared over and the car directed back to the Paddock. Clause Q5.4.2 of the MSA Blue Book states that if the race is less than 75% complete it shall be re-run but Clause Q5.5 allows the Clerk of the Course to abandon it altogether if he feels fit. I met with Ron Gammons (Competitions Manger of MG Car Club) on Tuesday to express my views and go through the sequence of events. Ron fully understood our collective frustrations and will report back to me when he’s had a report from the Senior Clerk of the Course who made the decision. I will of course come back to you on this. The final points table is attached, I have checked this and consider it to be correct but please do contact me immediately if you think there are any errors. Lap Records Facebook 2015 Regulations The main issue was the suggestion of changing the ECU supplier in Class Z from Superchips to Z and F Tuning. Given that I have had no written or emailed comment from any Class Z driver and it was unanimously accepted by all Class Z drivers who attended the meeting on Saturday I can confirm that Class Z will be required to change to a Z and F Tuning supplied The MGF drivers who attended the Drivers Meeting on Saturday unanimously accepted that MGF’s with MEMS 2 ECU’s will continue to run with the current Superchips ECU or, if they are MEMS 3 equipped, run with the Z and F Tuning ECU. Awards Dinner
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10th September 2014
Dear Competitor
Many thanks to all of you who supported the Brands meeting last weekend. We managed a final entry of 28 cars and whilst just 12 cars started the Class Z races the racing was superb, undoubtedly the closest races of the weekend.
It was good to see the return of Mick Weidner who was making his first appearance in the Championship since winning it in an MG Maestro in 1986 and Peter Higton, Junior Bhambra and Vince Pain who were welcome additions to the Class F and Z grids.
The first Class Z race saw a frankly ridiculous amount of weaving and excessive blocking and a couple of drivers came very close to being penalised. I understand that the Deputy Clerk of the Course spoke to each ZR driver in the collecting area and Race 2 was every bit as close but far more civilised. Be careful on this as you will beunder close scrutiny at Snetterton.
Congratulations go to Ben Palmer and Gary Smith for their wins in Class Z, Mark Baker and Simon Kendrick for their wins in Class F. I managed two wins in Class A.
New lap records were set by Simon in Class F and Lee in Class Z.
There were some top class performances in Class F and Z and there were several contenders for the Star Drive trophies. As you know, these trophies are given to someone who performs particularly well, we always try and look beyond the race winners and front runners and at Brands they were awarded to:
Philip Espinasse who had a cracking race with Brian Butler in Race 1 and me in Race 2. Philip has had a rather chequered racing career in MG and MGF but didn’t put a foot wrong in either race and made a confident move forward and deserves the trophy for two good drives. Junior Bhambra who also had two excellent races in a ZR that he hadn’t raced before taking a very competitive 5th place in Race 1 and a 6th place in Race 2 after a close battle with Adam Jackson.
Points Tables We’re at a crucial stage of the season and I’ll forward the points going into the final meeting at Snetterton as soon as I receive them from Mark Baker.
Car Weights Nigel weighed the cars at the Thruxton and Brands meetings and has given me a full list of weights recorded at those meetings. I’m pleased to advise that every car weighed at those two meetings were within the MGOC weight limits.
Snetterton The entry form is attached. This is to be sent direct to MG Car Club. The race timetable is close to being finalised, I’ll forward to you all as soon as I have it but I can say that Qualifying and Race 1 will be on Saturday and Race 2 on Sunday morning.
2015 Regulations We did have a semi-formal drivers meeting at Brands and the points noted in my previous Newsletter were openly discussed. No firm decisions were taken on any technical matters but I hope the discussions made you think about way forward for 2015. We will be having a rather more formal meeting on the Sunday morning of the forthcoming Snetterton meeting where final decisions will have to be made so I can amend the Regs and get them submitted to BARC/MSA for approval.
We discussed the options for venues in 2015, in addition to the usual meetings at Brands, Snetterton, Thruxton, Donington and Oulton the majority of drivers voted in favour of the following: A return to Castle Combe Cadwell Park over Mallory, Pembrey or Croft Silverstone National over Silverstone International
Awards Dinner
21st August 2014
Dear Competitor,
Congratulations go to Mark Baker for had a perfect weekend taking pole position, two race wins and two fastest laps in Class F to put real pressure on Simon Kendrick at the top of the points table.
Gary Smith had a surprisingly comfortable win in Class Z on Saturday with Lee Sullivan taking the Sunday win after an overnight engine change due to a broken crank. Chris Pollard had a lonely win in Class A on Saturday and Will Sharpe drove his old Midget superbly to take a well deserved win on a wet tack on Sunday.
No new laps records were set
It was good to welcome Mike Shrimpton who had an impressive race debut in the ex-John Kimber MGBGT. It was great to see John, Trevor Dixon and long time MGOC competitor Paul Naish at the track supporting the Class A drivers.
Nigel made checks on the cylinders bores and piston crowns of a number of Class Z cars using an endoscope and has confirmed that all cars are running with pistons in accordance with Clause 8.4.12 of our Regulations. A number of cars were also weighed and all were found to be in accordance with our Regulations.
Steve Jones was at Thruxton on Sunday and has some excellent action photos of our wet race. If any of you want to purchase any of Steve’s photos please email him at steve.jones28@virgin.net
As mentioned at Thruxton, I can confirm that we will be having “split grids” and we have been allocated half of the pit garages which is plenty for our likely entry level. The two qualifying sessions are late on Saturday with all four MGOC races on Sunday. The full timetable is on the BARC website. I’m confident that we’ll have a good entry for the Class A/F race but I’m really pushing Class Z drivers to enter this race and I’m hoping for an entry of at least 12 ZR’s. I’m delighted to say that our 1992 champion, Mick Weidner, has already entered a ZR and is really looking forward to returning to his roots.
We will be having a drivers meeting at some stage over the Brands weekend. The primary purpose of this is to ask for any changes to the Technical Regulations that you wish to be considered for the 2015 season. I don’t know at the moment what tome or where the meeting will take place but will let you all know before the Brands weekend.
I’m in discussion with MG Car Club regarding the timetable for our final meeting of the season on 4/5th October. I can say for sure that our qualifying session and two races will be over Saturday and Sunday but will advise the precise timetable as soon as I have it.
25th July 2014
I would like to thank the 16 drivers who made the effort to go to Croft, it’s shame we couldn’t muster more as it’s a great track and well worth the journey up the A1. A lot of things contrived against us, especially in Class A, with a number of the regular drivers absent for very good and unavoidable reasons.
The Star Drive trophies were awarded to: Ben Tinkler for an impressive debut taking pole in Class A on a wet track. Brian Butler who put in two strong performances and had two really good results in Class F. Our Race 1 on Sunday lunchtime was red flagged after six laps and, in accordance with MSA Blue Book Clause Q5.4.2, re-started over the remaining 4 laps. Clause Q5.4.2 also states that fastest laps for the race will be awarded to whoever gets fastest lap in either the first or second part of the race, this seems a bit daft to me but that’s what the Blue Book says, I have queried it with BARC who have confirmed that my interpretation is correct. Given that the first six lap part of the race was dry and the final four laps were damp it’s the case the points for fastest lap in each Class go to Andy Rogerson, Mark Baker and me. It was good to see Kevin and Nicki Broadley at the track. Kevin has had some very nasty health problems but is on the mend and is looking forward to getting back on track in Class A next season Paddock Conduct. An unsavoury incident took place in the Paddock after qualifying on Saturday afternoon. All drivers should be aware that the MSA hold the driver responsible for the actions of his team members and it goes without saying that me, the other drivers and MG Owners Club will not stand any form of physical or verbal threats or abuse and MGOC will not hesitate to withdraw Club membership in extreme cases. I had an open and frank discussion earlier this week with the persons concerned and first and final warnings were given. The parties involved unreservedly apologized for their behavior and the matter is now closed.
Facebook Most of you know that I don’t have a Facebook account and my life is too busy to waste my time getting involved in bickering between drivers. The MGOC Championship Facebook page is monitored for content by another driver and any insulting or derogatory postings will be removed. We can’t of course stop anyone posting whatever they like on their own Facebook account but please do think carefully before you post comments that may be considered derogatory to our Championship. The good work done by a lot of people and other drivers can be quickly destroyed so please do think carefully about what you say. It’s clearly more use and benefit to the long term future of the Championship if you concentrate on what we do well.
Thruxton This is rightly regarded as one of our big meetings of the year and I really do hope you will support it. The timetable on the BARC website currently shows MGOC races having “split grids”, this is incorrect as the circuit can start 34 cars and we will all be together in one big mixed grid. The race timetable will be revised and re-issued next week, I will email it out to you all as soon as it is confirmed.
Brands As previously mentioned, we have been allocated the pit garages for this meeting. We are currently down to have “split grids” but this is dependent on entry levels, I will be emailing you all next week asking if you are planning to enter this meeting.
Awards Dinner I can confirm that this will take place at the Best Western in Buckingham on Saturday 29th November, please put this date in your diary.
11th June 2014
The second race was even more spectacular. It was a three car battle between Gary, Lee and Ben, they lapped me after Stowe on the last lap and I don’t think I’ve ever seen three ZR’s being driven so hard. It was an incredible sight and those three guys must be praised for putting on a spectacular show of hard fought but totally clean racing. There were other battles throughout the field, especially in Class A where Chris Pollard, Ed Sharpe and Dave Amphlett had equally hard fought races. You should all be aware that the results of our Race 2 were amended and re-issued late on Sunday afternoon, this came about when Vince was given a 40 second penalty. The judicial process taken by the Clerk of the Course requires some explanation and I have asked Ian Watson to look into the whole matter and respond to a number of relevant questions.
**** NEWSLETTER **** 23rd May 2014 Dear Competitor, Oulton is a great place to go racing, a proper track with proper corners and on a lovely warm Spring day it was a treat to be there. MGOC provided the largest entry of the day but the lack of other races meant that the Paddock was almost deserted and BARC had plenty of time fill and despite having just 28 entries, we were given split grids. Congratulations go to Simon Kendrick and Lee Sullivan each took two wins and Lee set a new lap record in Class Z. I took both Class A wins.
We look forward to seeing you at Silverstone for our first ever meeting on the International circuit.
**** NEWSLETTER **** 25th April 2014 Dear Competitor, Combe may not be the most exciting circuit on the race programme but it’s a delightful place to go racing. The Paddock has the feel of those from years ago before they were all concreted or tarmaced over and with all MGOC cars parked together, there was a good feel about the place. The Combe management team are a really nice bunch of people and made us very welcome, they do actually think about the drivers, who are of course their paying customers, and simple things like having tea, coffee and biscuits available all day and giving out crème Easter eggs (I didn’t get one !!) were small but welcome nice gestures. New lap records were set by Andy Rogerson in Class Z and Chris Pollard in Class A. The Star Drive trophies go to: It clearly goes without saying that split grids will be dependent on the race entry levels so please do get your entries in a soon as possible. Motors TV - Donington Zandvoort
**** NEWSLETTER **** 29th March 2014
It was good to see you all at Donington for the start of the 34th year of the MGOC Championship. For the first round of the Championship back in 1981 we had seven cars (including me) on the grid, how things have changed !!. Despite being allocated a section of the Paddock that resembled a building site, it was a great way to start the new season and a 31 car entry was very impressive. The standard of car preparation continues to set new standards and the cars really were a credit to the drivers and a great advert for the Championship.
Conversely, the drivers of the faster cars must give the slower cars room, it is not acceptable for faster cars to “bully” slower cars into submission. A good driver can often make an advantage out of passing slower cars !!.
If you want any photo’s please contact Marcia at mariamellor@aol.com. She will happily email photo’s to you for a modest contribution to Dave’s race budget !!.
Young Driver Scheme
I look forward to seeing you all at Castle Combe on Easter Monday where we are again expecting another grid of over 30 cars. 9th March 2014
Dear Competitor, The new season is approaching fast and I’d like to update on a few things;
Registrations
I look forward to seeing you at Donington for the start of the 34th year in the Championship.
**** NEWSLETTER **** Dear Competitor, At the request of several drivers I have been pushing BARC for timetables for the coming season races. They are struggling a bit to get the timetables sorted and at the moment they haven't been posted on the BARC website, I can however confirm that for BARC Race Entries The form for entering BARC races is on the BARC website www.barc.net , Click on "Championships" then going to Lancaster Insurance/MGOC then going to "Entry Form". With this form you select the races you plan to do and effectively enter them all on the one form. There is a problem in that this form can only be used if you print off a Click here for an entry form from the previous BARC website, this can be filled in and Please do note that if for any reason you have to withdraw from a meeting that you originally selected you simply need to contact Nicola at BARC and cancel the entry. This "full season" entry form has been used for several years and it works really well. On the subject of the BARC website, I am preparing some info on our Championship, this will be posted on the MGOC section of the BARC site soon. Castle Combe Entry Form For those of you who didn't pick this up when I sent it out a couple of months ago, Click here for an entry form for Castle Combe. To perhaps state the obvious, this form must be sent to Castle Combe not BARC. Race Entry Procedure The long standing Championship policy for accepting race entries is laid down in our Regulation 3.1. This basically state that entries are accepted in order of current Championship positions with non-points scorers making up the remaining places. If a driver puts in a late entry they will only get on the grid if space is available. For our first meeting at Donington there are of course no current points scorers so entries will be accepted solely on the date of receipt of entry by BARC. There are absolutely no exceptions to our Championship policy for accepting entries. I have to say that most of the circuits we have for 2014 can start 35+ cars. I'd be rather surprised if we exceed those numbers and I'm sure that everyone who puts an entry We hope to have separate races for Saloon and Sports cars at Brands but this is, of course, entirely dependant on the number of entries received. Tyres We have managed to get a modest but welcome cash input from Yokohama, this will go towards trophies and other competitor related costs for the 2014 season. Adams and Page have kindly donated two £100 vouchers for tyres. The names of all We hope your pre-season preparation is going to plan, and that you will be ready for the start of this years exciting championship.
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23rd January 2014 Dear Competitor,
Championship Registration Race Numbers Any driver who hasn't registered for the 2104 Championship by mid-day on Monday 3rd February runs a significant risk of having their number re-allocated. Several drivers have requested number changes so do make sure you register if you want to retain your 2013 number, you have been warned. Race Entry Form Test Day
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The Awards Dinner on Saturday was a great success and I'd like to thank the 73 people who attended. It was an excellent evening.
2014 Race Dates I went to the BARC Championship Co-ordinators meeting on Sunday and can advise the following race dates for 2014;
March 22/23rd - Donington April 21st - Castle Combe May 17th - Oulton Park June 7/8th - Silverstone (International circuit) July 19/20th - Croft August 16/17th - Thruxton September 6/7th - Brands Hatch October 4/5th - Snetterton
All races will be double-headers giving a total of 16 races. The Silverstone meeting in June will be on the 1.85 mile International circuit. This is basically the southern section of the GP circuit, it doesn't include any of the corners on the usual National circuit. For the two day meetings, it's too early to say if races will be all one one day or spread over two days.
2014 Regs These have been submitted to BARC. In past years they forward them on to MSA for appprovel and this always takes forever but MSA now allow changes to be approved by the Stewards of the Championship ie. BARC . This wiil significantly shorten the approval proces and given that MGOC Regs were the first ones to be submitted to BARC I expect them to be approved pretty quickly.
BARC Co-ordinators meeting I went to the annual co-ordinators meeting at Thruxton on Sunday It was a very good meeting and many issues were discussed.
Probably the saddest issue raised was the closure of Mallory Park. The BARC directors expained the planning issues openly and in great detail and, as ever, there are two sides to the story but the result is that BARC simply cannot make it financially viable on the number of days a year they are allowed to operate the circuit. As a result of this, BARC have put Mallory Park Motorsport (a seperate BARC owned company) into voluntary liquidation. We can only hope that a new circuit operator can be found, it would be a great shame if this circuit is lost to a housing estate.
The changes to the Blue Book regarding track limits was also discussed. It's certain that some drivers will fall foul of the new rule that demands that all four wheels of the car must remain within the white line. More info on this when the precise wording of the 2014 Blue Book is known.
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